A state lawmaker from Lumberton has been selected to participate in a national summit to study crime and correctional systems.

Rep. Charles Graham will take part in the 50-State Summit on Public Safety, which takes place Nov. 13 and Nov. 14 in Washington, D.C. Leaders from each of the 50 states will meet to gain a better understanding of the crime, arrest, and correctional system trends in their jurisdictions.

Each state has submitted a team of four, which will include the state director of the department of corrections, a key state lawmaker, a person who channels the perspective of local law enforcement, and a local- or state-level behavioral health official. Graham serves on the House Justice and Public Safety Committee for the North Carolina General Assembly.

“Policymakers seeking to improve prisons, jails, and probation and parole systems say their biggest challenge isn’t a dearth of information or policy ideas. Instead, they struggle with the enormous amount of data presented to them by countless constituencies, each with distinct agendas. State and local elected leaders are keenly aware that with 6.7 million people in prison or jail or under probation or parole supervision, corrections systems must be an integral part of any effort to increase public safety,” according to summit organizers the Council of State Governments Justice Center and the Association of State Correctional Administrators.

Some of the issues and questions to be addressed are: how can states address local public safety challenges; how can states reduce recidivism through effective supervision, services, and re-entry strategies; and how can states generate savings from cost-effective corrections and sentencing policies to reinvest in public safety.